Great things are shaping up, thanks to you and everyone else making plans to participate in the sixth annual #GivingTuesday festivities. This movement began in 2012 as an organized effort dedicated to giving back. As a result, on Tuesday, 28 Nov., charities, families, businesses, community centers, students and others all around the world will come together to celebrate generosity and to give.

I have a longstanding working relationship with a CEO who recently changed jobs. Coming into his new company, he told me that his mantra was this: He intended to center every marketing initiative around PR strategy. In virtually every industry, I’m seeing many wise marketing industry leaders endorsing this idea. Another prominent example from the past several years comes from Jason Harris of San Francisco- and NYC-based Mekanism, where in an interview with HubSpot.com, he described his agency’s framework for creating shareable content.

“Our approach is to always think about the PR headline. Why will the idea, content, innovation, etc., travel? Why will people care, and why will they want to talk about it and share it? If there is no PR headline, the idea won’t be shareable. That is our goal on every project.”

The video I’m embedding with this article perfectly demonstrates the increasing focus on PR, presenting the 47-minute “Content & Storytelling: Is the PR Landscape Shifting?” session from the 2014 CDO Summit in NYC. Read more

On Monday, May 29, we are especially dedicated to commemorating our soldiers who died serving America. We miss you all dearly, and with deepest gratitude, we celebrate and honor you and your loved ones for your many sacrifices.

March 22 is World Water Day, where all human beings are invited to learn more about water-related issues, get inspired and make a positive impact. The international event dates back to 1992 when the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development made a recommendation: Thereafter, in 1993, 22 March was established as World Water Day. UN-Water sets the theme each year, and for 2017, it’s about wastewater.

“We are wasting our water mostly by putting waste into it. One cubic meter of wastewater can pollute ten cubic meters of water.” – Rose GeorgeRead more

International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. For 2017, organizers are seizing the occasion to activate us all around the critical goal of being bold for change and taking groundbreaking action that truly drives the greatest change for women.

Each of us can be a leader within our own spheres of influence by taking bold pragmatic action to accelerate gender parity. Through purposeful collaboration, we can help women advance – and thereby unleash the limitless potential offered to economies the world over. We all have urgent work to do. Are you ready to #BeBoldForChange this International Women’s Day and beyond?

The MLK Day of Service is an opportunity for Americans to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s legacy through service and volunteerism.

Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'”

Each year, Americans across the country answer that question by coming together on the King Holiday to serve their neighbors and communities. To learn more, please visit http://www.nationalservice.gov/mlkday.

It’s also my pleasure to provide the following graphic illuminating the life and lasting legacy of Dr. King, courtesy of http://OnlineCollegeCourses.com. “People honor and celebrate the life of Dr. King for many reasons, but most importantly, for his role in working to achieve race equality in America. Dr. King had arguably the greatest impact of any single person during the fight for racial equality, and the fact that his life was cut short causes people to wonder what he may have gone on to achieve in his lifetime. Read more

In the video above, in his own words, Narayanan Krishnan says, “I thought, what is the purpose of my life? What am I going to do? …And I quit my job and I started feeding all these people from 2002.” And later: “There are thousand and thousands and lots and lots of people suffering. What is the ultimate purpose of life? It’s to give. Start giving. See the joy of giving.“

I have done some research on homelessness over the years, and we all know that there are displaced people living on the city streets everywhere in America. The organizations and initiatives highlighted below represent just some of the many phenomenal community efforts supporting homeless people in the U.S. and elsewhere. I found many of them through http://JustGive.org, and I’m also proud to point you to this list JustGive publishes, entitled 35 Ways You Can Help the Homeless. They list as item 7, “give money,” and to that, I’ll add my plea to give whatever you have to spare (from loose change to your time), to those people you see in need.

Also, it’s the time of year when I invite you to join me in sending daily clicks to http://hungersite.com, where our simple mouseclicks can benefit a number of vital causes each and every day.

This Wednesday, July 13, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, The 2016 ESPYS Presented by Capital One will once again unite the world’s premier athletes, its biggest stars and the very best sports stories of the year. Hosted by John Cena, this 24th annual celebration supporting ESPN’s ongoing commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research will be televised live from LA’s Microsoft Theater.

In the meantime, ESPN Radio’s 12th Annual ESPY Day Auction to benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research is officially underway on eBay, where it will run through July 13. This year’s auction of more than 100 items includes tickets to prime sporting events, autographed memorabilia, unique experiences with athletes, celebrities and behind-the-scenes experiences with ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike and sports-related experiences with ESPN personalities Stephen A. Smith, Jon Gruden, Julie Foudy and more. To date, the ESPN Radio ESPY Day Auction has raised more than $8.4 million. To participate in the Auction and/or donate to the Jimmy V Foundation, go to http://www.ebay.com/rpp/espn or call 1-800-4-jimmyV.

Another way for fans across America to participate in The ESPYS is to help determine exactly who will be selected for these and other ESPY Awards: Read more

March 22 is World Water Day, where all human beings are invited to learn more about water-related issues, get inspired and make a positive impact. The international event dates back to 1992 when the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development made a recommendation: Thereafter, in 1993, 22 March was established as World Water Day. UN-Water sets the theme each year, and for 2016, it’s about water and jobs.

“Half of all workers on Earth are employed in water-related sectors. Millions of them are unrecognized and unprotected.”

There is no shortage of ways to connect to related initiatives and get onboard. Read more

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988. The official website and social media hub for the event is www.worldaidsday.org. As reported by Rosemary Feitelberg this week for WWD, this is the 10th anniversary of Red and The One Campaign, and many united advocacy efforts will take the spotlight today and in the days to come.

In the past 30 years, 39 million people have died from AIDS, which can now be treated for as little as 30 cents a day. To date, Red has raised $324 million to help provide a sustainable flow of money from the private sector to fight AIDS.Read more